The invention relates to a steering column arrangement for a motor vehicle, in particular a motor car.
German Patent document DE 10 2007 053 672 A1 discloses a steering column arrangement in which a jacket tube of a steering column supporting a steering shaft is releasably fixed to a bodywork-side bracket by means of a clamping means. The clamping means thereby comprises the respective bracket-side or jacket-tube-side clamping wedges that apply a corresponding clamping force for fixing the jacket tube or the steering column in a certain position relative to the bracket.
In such mechanically adjustable steering columns the clamping system or the clamping means must transfer the clamping forces to the bracket fixed to the vehicle. For high rigidity and characteristic frequency of the steering column the parts of the bracket holding the jacket tube—usually the bracket limbs—must be designed as rigidly as possible. The clamping limbs on the other hand must be designed to be as supple as possible for good transmission of the clamping force. This clearly leads to a conflict of goals.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a steering column arrangement that includes a high rigidity or characteristic frequency of the steering column and transfer of a high clamping force.
In order to provide a steering column arrangement, by means of which a high rigidity or characteristic frequency of the steering column can be realized and while also providing for the transfer of a high clamping force, the clamping means comprises according to the invention at least one clamping part that is formed to be supple in the transverse direction of the steering column arrangement. The supple clamping part thereby transfers the clamping force of the clamping means, whereby a particularly favorable degree of efficiency of the clamping force transfer can be achieved.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the at least one clamping part is thereby formed to be rigid in shear terms in the longitudinal direction of the steering column arrangement and arranged thereon. Through this arrangement with shear rigidity in particular the high rigidity and characteristic frequency of the steering column are achieved.
It has thereby proved advantageous in a further embodiment of the invention if the bracket comprises a limb arrangement with limb parts, between which clamping wedges of the clamping arrangement are received. The clamping wedges and also the clamping part itself can thus be connected simply in terms of shear rigidity in the longitudinal direction of the steering column arrangement in order to guarantee all in all a high rigidity and characteristic frequency of the steering column. Additionally, the limb arrangement provides a simple way to guarantee a correspondingly supple arrangement of the clamping wedges in the transverse direction of the steering column in order to hereby facilitate a high clamping force transfer.
The at least one clamping part is thereby fixed in a further embodiment of the invention either by means of clamping or in another way to the limb arrangement. This results in a particularly simple assembly and favorable fixing of the clamping part on the limb arrangement.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the at least one clamping part is arranged between the clamping wedges of the clamping arrangement. The supple arrangement of the clamping part on the clamping means is thus provided in a particularly favorable way.
Finally, it has proved advantageous if the at least one clamping part comprises for the purpose of supple formation at least one and in particular two loop regions. The clamping part can thus be easily designed to be supple in the transverse direction of the steering column arrangement.